Dentist&#39;s mobile equipment unit



July 29, 1947.

J. L. ANDREASEN DENTISTS MOBILE EQUIPMENT UNIT Filed June 23, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jamil .flncirezzserz INVENTOR. 52 mm v 7% Zn ATTORNEY y 1947 J. L. ANDREA$EN 2,424,729

r DENTISTS MOBILE EQUIPMENT UNIT Filed June 23, 1945 2 Sh eetsSheet 2 Pig. 5

wjzam A; ATTORNEY Patented July 29, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2 Claims.

This invention relates to equipment or apparatus to be used in a dental oflice in conjunction with the patients chair. In working on patients, of course, it is necessary for the dentist to stand beside the patients chair, and in order to do this throughout Working hours requires that the dentist shall be in good physical condition.

After the present war is ended many veterans will have the opportunity to receive technical training to enable them to practice different trades or professions, and one of these is the profession of dentistry. Many of the veterans, however, are not in strong enough physical condition to remain standing throughout working hours, though many of them would be sufficiently strong to do work, such as the work of a dentist, if they could remain seated alongside the patients chair. Furthermore, many of the veterans are incapacitated by leg injuries that make it impossible for them to take instruction in dental technique, and who would be physically incapable of practicing as dentists.

A principal object of this invention is to attempt to overcome this difliculty, and .provide equipment or apparatus to be used in a dentists oilice, and associated with the patients chair, operating in such a way that the dentist using the equipment will not have to remain standing at his work; and also to provide means whereby the position of the apparatus, or equipment, and the dentists seat can be shifted into different positions, as may be desired, alongside the patients chair.

Another object of the invention is to provide means for mounting a drill operating equipment so that it can be readily operated and controlled by a person without necessitating his standing beside the patient.

Another object of the invention is to provide such equipment with motor-driven means for moving it with relation to the patients chair, and to provide means whereby the motor can be readily controlled from the dentists position on his seat.

Another object of the invention is to provide equipment of this nature including a dentists seat that can be readily adjusted to any position adjacent to the patents chair, and to provide the apparatus with movable means for supporting the drill-motor, and other equipment employed by dentists.

Another object of the invention is to provide a dentists seat on which the dentist can sit while operating in the patients mouth. and also to provide means for effecting the orientation of the seat at will with relation to the patients chair, in a horizontal plane, while at the same time providing means for supporting the dental instruments and equipment so that the same will be readily accessible in any of the positions the apparatus may assume.

It is frequently necessary for a fixed light to be employed in a dentists omce for illuminating the oral cavity, and sometimes lamps for this purpose are supported from the ceiling. In most cases they are attached to the dental unit, that is attached to the floor. In these cases the adjustment of the chair in tilting the patient back necessitates the readjustment of the lamp.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a support for the lamp that will partially avoid this difficulty, and which will operate in such a way that if the lamp is adjusted to the proper position very slight adjustment of the lamp will sufiice to maintain its beam projected into the patients mouth in spite of the fact that a considerable movement of the patients body and patients chair may have occured.

It is common practice to provide a cuspidor for the patient, supported alongside of the patients chair, but the use of the cuspi'dor necessitates the patients sitting up to an upright position and leaning toward one side, usually the left side, to bring his mouth over the cuspidor.

One of the objects of this invention is to overcome this objection and provide a mounting for the cuspidor that will enable it to be moved into a convenient position more nearly in front of the patients body so that he can reach it without making much effort.

Further objects of the invention will appear hereinafter.

The invention consists in the novel parts and combinations of parts to be described hereinafter, all of which contribute to produce an efiicient dentist mobile equipment unit.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is described in the following specification, while the broad scope of the invention is pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a plan of a dentists equipment or apparatus embodying my invention and illustrating the relation of the parts of the equipment to each other and to the patients chair.

Figure 2 is a side elevation and partial section taken about on the line A-A of Figure 1. This view particularly illustrates the mounting for the dentists seat, and the means for maintaining it in a fixed position at the floor.

Figure 3 is a view of a diagrammatic nature that may be considered as an elevation taken about on the line B--B of Figure 1, and particularly illustrating, or further illustrating, the character of the main housing of the apparatus, or equipment, on which most of the extensible dental accessories are supported. In this view certain parts are broken away, and others omitted.

Figure 4 is a side elevation of the foot extension of the patients chair and further illustrating the means for adjustably mounting the lamparm on this foot extension.

Figure is a vertical section taken about on the line C0 of Figure 1, upon a larger scale than Figure l, and particularly illustrating the means for freeing the movable arm that carries the dentists seat from its normal controlled movement.

Figure 6 is a side elevation of the cuspidor and the contiguous part of the chair, and particularly illustrating the means for pivotally supporting it and carrying oil the drainage from it.

Referring more particularly to. the parts, and especially to Figure 1, the patients chair I is provided with a foot extension 2 that includes an inclined extension 3 that extends down from the level of the patients seat 4, and this foot extension terminates in an upwardly inclined end por tion 5. At its rear end the seat 4 of the patients chair is provided with a back 6 that is pivotally supported on frame brackets 1 that extend up 1 from the frame of the chair. These brackets support the back adjustably on pivotal axes B on which the chair back 6 can be swung up or down to adapt the position of the patient for operating on different parts of his mouth.

The upper end of the chair back '6 is provided with a head rest 9 connected by an arc-shaped, adjustable bracket I 0 which enables the head rest to be swung around on an are that has an axis, or center, approximately coinciding with a pivotal point near the lower end of the patients neck.

In applying my invention to such a chair, I provide supporting means for supporting the drill-motor H (see Figure 3) that drives the dentists drill. This support preferably includes a carriage Hi. In the present instance this is in the form of a platform mounted for movement over the floor F, The drill-motor II is mounted in its own casing M which is in turn mounted at the level of the cover wall I5 of a relatively tall housing [6. This housing operates to house accessory motors, etc., and also the extensible instruments that the dentist uses, such as a nozzle carried on a hose and providing water to wash out a tooth cavity; also a hot air nozzle on an extensible hose for carrying hot air into the mouth to dry out a cavity preparatory to placing a filling; or any other special instruments such as are usually carried on an extensible hose or electric cord, and which must be convenient to the dentists hand.

Any suitable drill-arm construction may be used. I have shown a conventional construction in which the shaft Ma of the electric motor H extends upwardly and is connected by means not illustrated to an inner driving shaft I! such as may be employed in flexible drill-arms 18. This flexible arm l8 includes a main supporting extension or section l8a that is pivoted at [9a to a rotatable head l9 mounted on the upper end of the motor casing 14; this enables the section lBa of the arm to be swung around and moved up and down into any position desired. This arm 18 includes flexible extensions lb and 180, and the usual handpiece, and a chuck (not illustrated), in which the drill is removably held. Within the section I82; and 80, drill shaft exten sions such as the extension 20 are provided, which transmit the rotar driving movement to the drill chuck (not illustrated). Flexible drillarms are well known in this art so it is unnecessary to illustrate the same in detail. At the rear end portion of the carriage l2 an arm or exten sion 2| projects out from the body of the carriage, and on the outer end of this extension 2. stub-shaft 22 is mounted to rotate, that is to say, the shaft is mounted for rotation thereon on a vertical axis. The upper end of this shaft has a head the under side of which carries clutch teeth meshing with similar clutch teeth formed on the adjacent upper face of the arm 23a to form a clutch connection 231) (see Figure 5). A spring 230 thrusting between arm 2| and arm 23 normally holds this clutch closed. A cam 23d under the head of the stub-shaft and operated by cam lever 23c enables this clutch to be opened at will to allow the arm 22 to be moved freely.

The outer end of arm 23 supports a post 23 and the upper end of this post carries the dentists seat 25. I prefer to support the dentists seat 25 on this arm 23 in some way that will enable it to be oriented in a horizontal plane, and with reference to the chair I. In order to accomplish this I prefer not to support the seat 25 directly on the end of the arm 23, but I attach two links 25 and 21 to the top of the post 23 In other words the link 26 is attached by pivot pin 28 to the upper end of the post 231 and at its other end is connected by a pivot pin 29 to the inner end of the link '21. The other end of the link 2'! is connected by pivot pin 30 to the under side of the dentists seat25. The load on the post 231 is carried on a caster wheel 24 mounted at the bottom of the post to roll on the floor. (See Figure 2.)

I provide means associated with the dentists seat, that is to say, in a position such that it can be operated from the dentists position, for controlling the operation of the drill-motor l I. Such motors are usually controlled by a rheostat on the floor or at the floor level. I provide a rheostat attached to an electric cable and freely mov able so that it can be supported when desired on a, foot-rest associated with the dentists seat 25. To this end I provide a foot rest 3! that is located near the level of the floor F, and carried on an extensible column 32 that extends down from the forward end of the seat 25, and this seat is preferably in the form of a saddle. This extensible column 32 includes a tubular upper extension 32a, and a bar or rod extension 3221 that telescopes within it, and extends down to a point near the floor where its lower end is provided with a brake 33, preferably in the form of a soft rubber foot that may be of circular form if desired, and provided with a central hub that is attached rigidly to the lower end of the rod extension 32?).

The foot rest 3| is adjustably attached to this rod extension 3212 so that its position can be raised or lowered to adapt its level to the particular needs of the dentist using the seat. For this purpose the foot rest is provided with an opening 34 through which the rod 32b passes; and associated with this opening, a set-screw or bolt 35 is provided that can be tightened up to clamp the foot rest at any elevation desired.

When the dentist is sitting on the seat 25 the rheostat or controller 36 may lie on the upper side of the foot rest 3!. It is attached to an electric cable 31a, attached on the carrige l2 at, a, point such as the point 31; and thence it passes along the carriage over to its end adjacent to the housing iii. At this point circuit wires from the insulated wires of the cable are carried over a branch cable 33 that extends over to the housing 56 and up to the drill-motor ll. (See Figure 3.)

The controller or rheostat switch is provided with the usual two levers 39 and Ml, held yielding-1y in their neutral position shown. The levers give difierent speeds of the motor. Moving lever 39, the right lever for the dentist (as it lies on platform 35) forward, or left lever 40 backward drives the motor in a, clockwise direction, and when these levers are moved in the other direction they will drive it in reverse.

In addition to the drill-motor H I provide a second motor 4! in the housing It, which is indicated in dotted lines in Figure 3, and this motor is a traction motor, that is to say, it is provided with means such as reduction. gearing, or abelt 42 for driving a small wheel or roller 43, at a slow speed, and the lower portion of this wheel extends down through a slot ts in the platform or carriage l2, so that its rubber tire 45 engages the floor Hi. This motor is also controlled from the foot rest 3!, for which purpose I provide two push button switches 46a and 461) (see Figure 1), conductors from which pass back in a branch cable 47! that joins up into the main cable 3.! passing along the arm 23, and by way of the extension 2!, onto the carriage l2, and thence via cable 31 to the motor 4 l. One of these push buttons 45a and 48b is connected up to a oirctut for driving the motor 4! in a forward direction, and the other is connected up to the motor circuit for driving the motor in the reverse direction.

Referring again to the column 32 that extends down from the dentists stool or seat 25, attention is called to a bayonet slot 48 that is formed through the wall of the tubular extension 32a, and through this bayonet slot extends a long pin or handle 49 that is attached in the rod extension 32b.

When the carriage I2 is being moved by means of the motor ll and the traction wheel 43, this foot rest 3! is held in an elevated position by pulling the handle 19 up to the upper en of the slot 48 and then pushing it over into a lateral extension or notch 58 in the side of this slot. At

other times the rod 327) simply rests by gravity with its brake foot 33 lying on the floor l3. However, if it is desired to bring more weight to bear on this brake or brake shoe 3?, this can be accomplished by providing a laterally disposed notch or socket 5! at the lower end of the slot l8. When the handle pin 49 is in this socket 5i evidently the weight of the dentist on the seat 25 will be imparted to the foot brake 33. However, in order to make this adjustment it would normally be necessary for the dentist to stand on the floor for a moment, perhaps taking hold of the seat 25 to raise it slightly from its normal position to enable the handle pin 49 to get into the lateral slot 5|.

I provide means for guiding the carriage l2 as it is moved along by the traction wheel 43, and also means for supporting it, which latter means includes an idler roller or small wheel 52 (see Figure 1), which extends down through a slot 53 in the carriage [2.

Between the housing It and the extension 2| that supports the seat arm 23, I provide a dental cabinet 54, or other means including drawers or trays for supporting dental instruments. In the Present instance I illustrate a drawer 55 pulled out to a half open position so as to enable instruments carried in it to be easily reached by the dentist.

In a position to throw an illuminating beam into a patients mouth, I provide an electric lamp 56 (see Figure 1). This lamp is supported on an arm 57 composed of a plurality of arm sections 51a and all; jointed together so as to form an adjustable arm. This arm is supported on a vertical stanchion or post 58 that is stepped in a step bearing 53 in a block that is attached to the inclined extension, or end section 5 of the foot extension of the patients chair. This post 58 extends up to a considerable height where it carries the adjacent end of the arm section 57a.

If desired, the arm 5% may be made of telescoping form. In any case the free end of the section 5712 supports the lamp 56 so that it can be adjusted on the axis of the arm'section 57b and also rotated about the axis of tw trunnions or gudgeons Eli! that are in axial alignment with each other and that secure the lamp bracket 6! to a swivel sleeve 62 mounted to swivel on the end of the arm extension. The ends of the lamp bracket El are provided with studs or screws E53 that are attached to the casing of the lamp.

The apparatus includes means operating automatically to maintain the dentists stool, or seat, within a short range of positions near the side of the chair, while the carriage itself has a somewhat larger range of movement in which it is guided by a connection to the base as of the chair. Any suitable gearing or other mechanism may be employed for accomplishing this purpose. In the present instance, I illustrate, by wa of example, an extension 55 in the form of a long arm that projects toward the base 65 of the chair from the carriage [2 at a point near the front of the housing l6, and the base 6% is secured to the floor I3 in the usual way.

The end of the arm 55 adjacent to the base 66 projects over the base, and is attached to the base by an upwardly projecting pivot pin or stud 6? (see Figure 3). On the underside of the carriage I2 I mount a lever system for imparting rotary movement to the stub-shaft 22 to which the seat arm 23 is rigidly attached. This lever system includes a bell-crank lever 68, the short arm of which is attached to a link 5t that extends over to the base 66 and is attached by pivot pin or bolt iii to the upper side of the base 66. This pivot pin H3 is located slightly toward the front of the chair with respect to the pivot pin 6?, and the effect of this is to give a certain amount of swinging movement of the bell-crank lever 68 on its center or pivot pin ll as the carriage is moved toward the rear end of the chair from the position in which it is indicated in Figure 1. The movement of the bell-crank lever 68 is imparted to a link l2 that extends along under the carriage l2 with its rear end pivotally attached to a lever arm 23a that is rigidly secured at its inner end to the stub-shaft 22, already described, that extends down through the extension 25. When the arm 23 swings about the axis of the stub-shaft 24 no damage will be done to the cable 3'! because an excess amount of slack is provided in this cable as indicated in Figure 1. This slack may form a loop 31b as indicated in dotted lines when the rheostat is lying on the floor [3, and th dentist is standing by the chair instead of being seated.

By reason of the employment of the two links 26 and 21 that support the seat 25 from the end of the arm 23, it should be understood that the angular position of the arm 23 does not positively determine the position of the seat 25; it merely gives a point of support for the links 26 and 21, and these links of course enable the seat 25 to be oriented about the axis of the pivot pin 28 that connects it to the arm 23 and also enables the seat to be shifted as desired so as to place its longitudinal aXis in any desired relation with respect to the patients chair.

And whenever desired the dentist can apply the brake sh'oe 33 to the floor to hold the seat 25 in any fixed position into which he has adjusted it.

Referring again to Figure 3 it will be noted that the link 69 is at a lower level than the arm 65 so that they will not interfere with each other when the carriage swings in either direction about the pivot stud 61.

The cuspidor for the patient is indicated by the numeral 74 and is attached to the outer edge of one of the arms of the chair, preferably the left arm 15. As shown in Figure 1, this cuspidor is preferably of semi-circular form so that it presents a flat side that is located at the outer edge of the arm 15. It projects up a considerable distance above the level of the arm (see Figure 6) so that its drain outlet 14a can drain into the bore 14b that extends down through a pivot post 140 that is mounted to rotate on its axis in a bearing Md formed on the side of the frame of the chair. The lower end of this post or pintle 'Hlc delivers the drain Water through telescoping pipes (not illustrated). A salvia ejector 76 is illustrated carried On a hose 1'! guided up through a lug 80.

In practice the cuspidor would be provided with means for projecting a constant stream of Water into it to keep it clean. This, however, forms no part of this invention, and hence, the apparatus for this purpose is not illustrated.

By pressing on the push buttons 46a or 46b, the carriage l2 and the dentists seat can be moved in unison in one direction or as may be desired. The arm '23 will maintain the seat 25 in the proper relation to the cabinet and the chair at all times. He can also readily adjust the lamp 56 as desired, and the lamp can be always held in a proper position, over the patient. It, however, can be swung to the side when the patient is getting in or out of the chair.

At all times in using the drill attached to the end, of the drill-arm E8, the dentist presses his foot forward on levers 39, backward on 40, to control the operation of the drill in correct cutting rotation. And forward on 40 and backward on 39 for reverse.

As the rheostat 36 is not attached to the foot rest, it will be evident that if the dentist wishes to stand up at the side of the chair to work, he can place the rheostat at a point on the floor to be in convenient reach of his foot. This is illustrated in dotted lines in Figure 1. At such a time he can use the lever 23c shown in Figure to open the clutch 2312 so as to permit the arm 23 to be swung freely and can then move the seat 25 out of his way.

Many other embodiments of this invention may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a dentists equipment to be employed in conjunction with the patients chair, the combination of a support for the dentists drill, rotary means for supporting the said support on the floor to move into difierent positions at the side of the chair, a motor and dentists drill driven thereby also mounted on said support, a dentists seat connected with said support and capable of moving in unison with same, a foot rest for the dentist associated with said seat, an electric circuit for said motor supported on said support, means carried on said foot rest for controlling said circuit to control the operation of the said motor, a second motor carried on said support and having a driving wheel resting on the floor for moving the support and dentists seat with relation to the chair, and a, circuit for the same with means including a switch for controlling the second motor from the dentists position on said seat.

2. In a dentists equipment for use in conjunction with a dentists chair, the combination of a carriage supported on the floor to move about the chair, and having an extension with a pivotal support for the same adjacent to the location of the chair, a traction motor on the carriage with a floor roller driven thereby for propelling the carriage over the floor to move the same about the chair, a flexible drill arm and a drill-motor therefor supported on the carriage toward its forward end, a seat arm movably connected to the carriage toward its other end, a dentists seat carried on the arm, control switches for the two motors operatable from the dentists position on his said seat, and an electric cable supported on said arm and carriage and including conductors connecting said switches to said motors.

JUEL L. ANDREASEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

V UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,308,812 Jankelson Jan, 19, 1943 1,566,161 Moore Dec. 15, 1925 1,484,229 1 Miles Feb. 19, 1924 963,595 Lerro July 5, 1910 1,277,886 Elliman Sept. 3, 1918 1,156,538 Markowicz Oct. 12, 1915 1,352,409 Hoefener Sept. 7, 1920 2,087,932 Zola et a1 July 27, 1937 1,344,940 Gavin June 29, 1920 1,271,170 Jellinek et al July 2, 1918 1,510,376 Berninghaus Sept. 30, 1924 1,469,841 Lazar Oct. 9, 1923 1,036,676 Miller Aug. 27, 1912 1,245,406 Uhl Nov. 6, 1917 1,253,555 Wolf Jan. 15, 1918 

